NAW

[Lipoli390]

I continue to be impressed by NAW. Maybe I was right about him coming out of college. :). I still think Nowell is a better offensive player with more overall offensive upside than NAW. He's a more explosive athlete than NAW, but not as long. On the other hand, NAW's defense looks really solid - much better than Nowell - and he looks decent on the offensive end as well.

With no cap space and limited room under the luxury tax, the Wolves need to take full advantage of every cap exception to sign players who can help - especially younger ones with some upside. The Wolves acquired NAW's Bird rights and that's an important consideration because it allows the Wolves to sign him without using the MLE or BAE. Based on what we've seen so far, I'd go with Cam's suggestion and offer a multi-year contract at less than $7M per year. I think $4M per year on a 2-4 year deal would be reasonable.

The issue with Nowell is that it appears he's not inclined to stay because he wants a bigger role. I suspect he hasn't fully internalized the fact that he hasn't earned a bigger role in spite of opportunities to do so. But it's hard to know what's going on in his head or what conversations have taken place between Nowell/his agent and the Wolves. I still think Nowell will turn out to be a really good NBA player and ultimately better than NAW, but I'm not sure about that and I think at this point NAW will be easier to keep than Nowell.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

NAW's still lookin' good!

Watching him, his defense is definitely good. He's not as good as Jaden on that end, but he's still looked really good. Offensively, if his shot falls like it did against Sacramento, it's icing on the cake. But what's made him stand out compared to, say, Austin Rivers or Josh Okogie, is his offensive versatility. Austin can handle the ball, but it's almost always that quick crossover and then a drive to the rack from the baseline. NAW's not only been comfortable handling the ball above the key, but anybody else notice he's actually running pick and rolls with the bigs sometimes? We really need that, and he hasn't been too bad at that from what I've seen so far. At this point, other than Conley and JMac (sometimes), do we have anyone else we've seen run the pick and roll well? Theoretically SloMo, but that's not exactly his thing either. It's a small sample size, but NAW looks nice in that regard.

Obviously, he's not perfect, and I can't imagine he'll hit 3s like he did last night regularly, but if he can actually keep up this level of defense and still give us the offensive versatility, wow, what a nice pickup.

Overall, we've been moving the ball well. When we've got guys out there who are all willing and able passers, we really are better offensively, even when we don't have anybody other than Ant right now who could conceivably go off for 30 on any given night.

Finally, this isn't a thread for him, but can I just give a quick shoutout to SloMo? Man, the shit that guy can do is nuts sometimes. Really love watching him play.

[Monster]

The Nickeil Alexander-Walker situation is somewhat similar to Jarred Vanderbilt when he was acquired by Minnesota. Low usage, young player without a consistent role who showed flashes of production/potential in limited minutes before becoming a free agent. The main difference, obviously, is Alexander-Walker being set to make $7-million on a qualifying offer, which is a sizable overpay despite being just a one-year commitment.

Minnesota would be wise to not offer that and instead work on a multi-year deal at a lower, team-friendly annual salary with options and non-guaranteed money included. Alexander-Walker does not have much bargaining power, in my opinion, which should put him in a similar corner that Vanderbilt was in.

On another note, if they did offer the qualifying offer and he accepted it, which I think is very likely, then that would be a $7-million expiring contract that could potentially help net them a better player at a later time next season.

Personally I would just utilize the RFA aspect. If a team wants to pay him, then let them. Let the market dictate what to offer him.

Nowell to me has been and still is a Shabazz. Nothing about his play says conducive to team offense or defense. I would bet he is out of the league before I would bet that he has a long career.

I don't think that the comparison to Bazz is without merit but to be fair to Nowell he offers more as a scorer and offensive player than Bazz could have ever dreamed of. Bazz outside of 10 feet from the basket shot like 30 something percent for his career outside of that range. Nowell's range extends to 16 feet. Nowell is a MUCH better ball handler and can score going more than to the left side of the basket. In addition Nowell averages almost 4x as many assists per 36 for his career as Bazz with basically the same amount of turnovers. It would be interesting to see the numbers on how both guys did in transition scoring. Nowell seems absolutely lethal there. In addition if I was gonna put a guy on the floor and said get me a bucket Nowell wouldn't be my first choice but he might get it done. Bazz? The question would be how many players he would run over while gaining an offensive foul and turnover. Lol

What kind of contract would I offer Nowell? Idk like Cam said a few weeks ago Nowell or at least his representation probably figures Nowell's best chance of getting a payday is some sort of short term prove it deal on a team that will give him a chance to play. To some extent what does Nowell have going for him that a G-league guard putting up nice stats? Nowell might be bigger than some guys but that doesn't factor in much on defense. Why not just sign a McClung type guy (ok not that athletic) but basically another combo guard that just gets buckets. Because I believe in him I'd offer something for 3 million maybe 4 if there was an option to walk away year 2. Ultimately I don't think it matters much it doesn't seem like Nowell will be back with the Wolves. I just see him looking for something different than what they will be offering.

Going back to NAW if Nowell leaves as I expect the Wolves could be a pretty good opportunity for him. He can play 1-3 and there is an outside chance for him to even become a starter here since Conley isn't the long term answer next to Edwards. The Wolves will likely bring in another guard if Nowell leaves but NAW could have a chance to keep or fight for a legit role. If Rivers leaves that's another reason for NAW to stay. Again the Wolves likely bring in some more guards in FA and Maybe Moore develops and gets some minutes next season but NAW would have an inside track on Moore for sure.

Before this season the exceptions for these guys were completely different. NAW was looking like the guy that might have to worry about being on an NBA roster and Nowell was looking to ascend to me a nice player and cash in on at least being a nice 6th man guy. This is also why as it's been mentioned already we shouldn't fall too much in love with NAW...especially in terms of salary.

What does Nowell do well? Watch the guy, he is finally figuring out that passing is OK. He deserves a minimum contract. That is it.

This year? Not much, except he is very good at creating his own shot in the lane. And while he's not very effective, I never question his effort on defense.

But last year and also in college, he was a very good 3-point shooter. And a couple weeks ago he made a correction on his shooting form and started to make shots...but then he hurt his knee, and the eye chart Nowell returned. But let's not forget he was the Pac 10 player of the year his final year there.

It's a mystery what we will do with him. But I'm fairly certain he's a better player than he has shown this season.

Charting out a player based on G-League and College stats never ends up well. Altering shooting form rarely works well.

It just simply boils down to this - are you going to make an offer to Nowell or NAW?

Fair points, future, and right now clearly NAW...he's been quite impressive. But I'm hoping nowell comes back healthy this week and eliminates the possibility of any rivers or Ryan minutes, and even better...plays well enough to make TCs decision a little more difficult. I'm confident we are going to defend, but we can't have too many wing scorers.

What does Nowell do well? Score inside the 3 point line. That can be valuable. That said I'd be fine if he didn't play much or at all going forward. I'd throw him out there if they need someone to get a bucket...kinda like when they put Forbes out there because they could use some shooting. On the other hand...maybe not because they just need to move the ball and that's not exactly what Nowell is gonna help with.

Meanwhile NAW while not perfect has been doing all the things. He is basically playing like sort of a Prince type guy someone who can do a little of everything. He is a younger player and his performance is more volatile but it's pretty nice to have a player like him. I don't expect him to play well all the time or continue to hit .500 on 3's but he probably starts shooting better from two 35% as it feels like he has struggled finishing at the rim. He isn't the biggest guy at SF but he has enough length he can actually help out there which was one of the issues of the roster going into the trade deadline. Plus even if he isn't actually a PG he can help as a playmaker and passer like last night. He is an upgrade from Nowell, Ryan, Forbes and maybe even Rivers in that regard. That's not a small thing and even if his 3 point shooting isn't real the decent playmaking is something it looks like he has been doing his whole career based on his assist numbers.

[Lipoli390]

Here's the draft.net analysis of NAW from 2019:

NBA Comparison: Spencer Dinwiddie/Jordan Clarkson

Strengths: Offensively versatile 6'5'', 205-pound guard ... Is a sniper from long range and shoots with an excellent form and quick release ... Has great awareness and a high basketball IQ ... Cerebral approach ... Very good attention to detail and desire to improve ... A great decision-maker in transition ... Can play PG within the rotation and is comfortable at either guard position ... Understands when to take it to the rim, pull-up for a jumper, or pass the ball to an open teammate ... Shifty. Gets by opponents using fakes, despite lacking an explosive first step ... Moves without the ball. Gets open off of screens ... Uses his ambidexterity to shift directions and attack the rim going left or right ... Solid defensive instincts, evidenced by his 1.9 steals per game as a sophomore at Virginia Tech ... Has the ability to play off of pick and roll and knock down spot-up jumpers ... Averaged a fair amount of assists per game (4.0), which is very impressive for being the second ball-handling option behind Justin Robinson ... Led the Hokies in scoring (16.2 ppg) this past season ...

Weaknesses: Has wide shoulders, but a very slender frame ... Doesn't always exhibit an alpha dog personality ... Lacks physicality ... Overall strength needs to improve in order to get shots off against bigger, tougher defenders in the NBA ... Lacks an explosive first step off the dribble and struggles to score in traffic ... Must improve his ability to play through contact on both ends of the court ... Does not get to the free throw line at a high rate... Not an elite athlete ... A bit careless with the ball, averaged 2.9 turnovers per game this season ... Plays a little upright and rigid. Lacks fluidity to an extent in his movement ... Struggled to perform in Virginia Tech's two biggest games of the season, shooting 30% and 25% from the floor against Liberty and Duke respectively ... Could work on being a more vocal leader ...

I've bolded some of the key observations that appear to hold true in the little we're seen of him so far with the Wolves. If he had Nowell's athleticism, I'd be really excited about him. But of course then he wouldn't have been thrown in as part of the Conley trade.

[Monster]

NAW's still lookin' good!

Watching him, his defense is definitely good. He's not as good as Jaden on that end, but he's still looked really good. Offensively, if his shot falls like it did against Sacramento, it's icing on the cake. But what's made him stand out compared to, say, Austin Rivers or Josh Okogie, is his offensive versatility. Austin can handle the ball, but it's almost always that quick crossover and then a drive to the rack from the baseline. NAW's not only been comfortable handling the ball above the key, but anybody else notice he's actually running pick and rolls with the bigs sometimes? We really need that, and he hasn't been too bad at that from what I've seen so far. At this point, other than Conley and JMac (sometimes), do we have anyone else we've seen run the pick and roll well? Theoretically SloMo, but that's not exactly his thing either. It's a small sample size, but NAW looks nice in that regard.

Obviously, he's not perfect, and I can't imagine he'll hit 3s like he did last night regularly, but if he can actually keep up this level of defense and still give us the offensive versatility, wow, what a nice pickup.

Overall, we've been moving the ball well. When we've got guys out there who are all willing and able passers, we really are better offensively, even when we don't have anybody other than Ant right now who could conceivably go off for 30 on any given night.

Finally, this isn't a thread for him, but can I just give a quick shoutout to SloMo? Man, the shit that guy can do is nuts sometimes. Really love watching him play.

Defensively last night I was noticing how he was able to get through screens. Jim Peterson mentions often how big that is. Idk if I just happened to pay attention a few times when he did but that's something I'm gonna watch for. He also seems to have good hands when going for the ball. He does get foul calls for swipes and other aggressive D but I'll live with that based on what he is currently giving on that end.

[kekgeek]

NAW has been fantastic, can't ask more for a "throw in" of the Dlo trade. But everything I have read is he is super streaky so we might see a big regression incoming. With that said good NAW has been a pleasure to watch and a super valuable player for this team and has changed the outlook of the wolves bench

[Monster]

Here's the draft.net analysis of NAW from 2019:

NBA Comparison: Spencer Dinwiddie/Jordan Clarkson

Strengths: Offensively versatile 6'5'', 205-pound guard ... Is a sniper from long range and shoots with an excellent form and quick release ... Has great awareness and a high basketball IQ ... Cerebral approach ... Very good attention to detail and desire to improve ... A great decision-maker in transition ... Can play PG within the rotation and is comfortable at either guard position ... Understands when to take it to the rim, pull-up for a jumper, or pass the ball to an open teammate ... Shifty. Gets by opponents using fakes, despite lacking an explosive first step ... Moves without the ball. Gets open off of screens ... Uses his ambidexterity to shift directions and attack the rim going left or right ... Solid defensive instincts, evidenced by his 1.9 steals per game as a sophomore at Virginia Tech ... Has the ability to play off of pick and roll and knock down spot-up jumpers ... Averaged a fair amount of assists per game (4.0), which is very impressive for being the second ball-handling option behind Justin Robinson ... Led the Hokies in scoring (16.2 ppg) this past season ...

Weaknesses: Has wide shoulders, but a very slender frame ... Doesn't always exhibit an alpha dog personality ... Lacks physicality ... Overall strength needs to improve in order to get shots off against bigger, tougher defenders in the NBA ... Lacks an explosive first step off the dribble and struggles to score in traffic ... Must improve his ability to play through contact on both ends of the court ... Does not get to the free throw line at a high rate... Not an elite athlete ... A bit careless with the ball, averaged 2.9 turnovers per game this season ... Plays a little upright and rigid. Lacks fluidity to an extent in his movement ... Struggled to perform in Virginia Tech's two biggest games of the season, shooting 30% and 25% from the floor against Liberty and Duke respectively ... Could work on being a more vocal leader ...

I've bolded some of the key observations that appear to hold true in the little we're seen of him so far with the Wolves. If he had Nowell's athleticism, I'd be really excited about him. But of course then he wouldn't have been thrown in as part of the Conley trade.

A couple things I will mention from this scouting report.

NAW still isn't a big strong guy but he is clearly filled out some and gotten stronger since college which is something we expect but it doesn't always happen.

The scoring report mentions high turnovers. That's been an issue for him statistically in his NBA career. Still he does have solid assist numbers and looks the part of at least a combo guard which is nice consider he has the size and length to play 1-3.

Nowell does have nice athletic ability which I think is underrated at times but I'm not sure how it's a significant advantage over NAW. About the only way I think it really shows up (which is why people don't think he is as athletic as he is) is finishing in the paint but to be honest I think that's more about Nowell's skills than his athletic gifts. It certainly doesn't show up on defense!

NAW's upside is likely a very different path than Nowell. It's being an excellent role player whereas Nowell is some sort of star guard or top 6th man. Nowell's upside could be a Jordan Clarkson type and NAW could be an Alex Caruso type. Which one of them is more valuable?

[SameOldNudityDrew]

NAW's still lookin' good!

Watching him, his defense is definitely good. He's not as good as Jaden on that end, but he's still looked really good. Offensively, if his shot falls like it did against Sacramento, it's icing on the cake. But what's made him stand out compared to, say, Austin Rivers or Josh Okogie, is his offensive versatility. Austin can handle the ball, but it's almost always that quick crossover and then a drive to the rack from the baseline. NAW's not only been comfortable handling the ball above the key, but anybody else notice he's actually running pick and rolls with the bigs sometimes? We really need that, and he hasn't been too bad at that from what I've seen so far. At this point, other than Conley and JMac (sometimes), do we have anyone else we've seen run the pick and roll well? Theoretically SloMo, but that's not exactly his thing either. It's a small sample size, but NAW looks nice in that regard.

Obviously, he's not perfect, and I can't imagine he'll hit 3s like he did last night regularly, but if he can actually keep up this level of defense and still give us the offensive versatility, wow, what a nice pickup.

Overall, we've been moving the ball well. When we've got guys out there who are all willing and able passers, we really are better offensively, even when we don't have anybody other than Ant right now who could conceivably go off for 30 on any given night.

Finally, this isn't a thread for him, but can I just give a quick shoutout to SloMo? Man, the shit that guy can do is nuts sometimes. Really love watching him play.

Defensively last night I was noticing how he was able to get through screens. Jim Peterson mentions often how big that is. Idk if I just happened to pay attention a few times when he did but that's something I'm gonna watch for. He also seems to have good hands when going for the ball. He does get foul calls for swipes and other aggressive D but I'll live with that based on what he is currently giving on that end.

Do you mean NAW or Kyle getting through screens? I'll watch for both. Both have pretty active hands on D. NAW did get pick up one foul in that Sac game when he stripped a guy under the basket, but when I watched it slowly, it looked like he really only hit the guys hand when it was on the ball, which I think technically shouldn't be called (hand part of the ball rule, right?).

Speaking of defensive hands, one thing I've noticed is how good Jaden is getting and how good Kyle seems to be about poking balls away defensively without picking up the foul. Jaden still needs to be a little more careful not to pick up those fouls, but it seems like every game those guys each makes a crafty steal where it seems like the opponent clearly has the ball safely under control and those guys are just able to pull a steal out of thin air basically. It seems to happen more when they poke directly at the ball with one hand and then are able to corral the ball once it's loose rather than swiping, which is more likely to pick up the foul. Ant's been pretty good at that too, most notably on Luka in that crucial moment down the stretch of that Dallas game.

Jim Pete was saying something in that last game about how cool it was to have so many defenders on the floor at the same time, and although it feels crazy to say that on a night when we gave up so many points, I get what he's saying. Just look at how guys are actually boxing out now. Really until last year, I don't remember seeing much hustle on D for the dirty work like that in so many years. We'd have individual defenders, but as long as I can remember, it's never really been part of the team's identity. But it does feel like we're improving in that area. There are still some real issues with this team--the decision-making at times, or the stagnant, ball-stopping offense for stretches. But I do like how this team seems to have gotten over a kind of team-wide laziness and sloppiness on D, and guys like NAW seem to be helping to keep the needle pointing in the right direction.

I just hope KAT takes notice and joins in!

[FNG]

I've been trying to figure out why NAW's shooting form seems so unusual to me, and Dane Moore has solved it for me in a tweet. He shoots with his right foot behind his left foot, very unusual for a right handed shooter...try it in the gym today, and you'll see! But it seems to be working for him, so I'm going to try to stop wincing when he puts up a three!

Another positive from the NAW pick up...like Conley, he has great chemistry with Rudy. You may have noticed it since he joined the rotation, and in a small sample size last season, Gobert/NAW had a jaw-dropping net rating of +31!

[Sundog]

I've started to wonder how NAW's role (assuming he stays on this trajectory, a big assumption) might impact Moore and his development going forward. It seems like they could overlap. Can't have too many good relatively cheap wing players, I guess, so it'd be a good problem to have.